Lauderdale May Buy Beach Land At Discount

FORT LAUDERDALE -- After several years of paying top dollar for beach-area property to build a new road, the City Commission is discovering that it sometimes pays to balk.

Three weeks ago, commissioners said no thanks to a $2.1 million deal their staff recommended to buy a 1.1-acre tract near the beach for redevelopment.

They said they would reconsider if the price -- $45 a square foot -- came down to $30 a square foot, even though two appraisals supported the higher price.

Sure enough, the price came down. The commission will consider buying the land today for $1.45 million.

``I think this is an indication the city is not willing to fund skyrocketing property costs down there,`` said Commissioner John Aurelius, who suggested the lower price for the property owned by Robert Marlin.

The purchase would give the city near-contiguous property from the beach to the Intracoastal Waterway on the south side of Las Olas Boulevard. If the purchase goes through, the city will own nearly 12 acres in the beach area around Las Olas Boulevard.

Would-be beach developers have said that the city needs to own or promise to buy more land before it can stir up interest in a major redevelopment project.

The price drop ``is indicative of the city setting the market. We`re the only ones buying any property down there,`` said Victor Volpi, city real estate officer.

This comes after the city spent $11.5 million in condemning beach property for a new inland section of State Road A1A, which opened in April two blocks west of the beach. The city sometimes paid three and four times the appraised value for the land for the 1-mile road.

If the Marlin deal is approved, $1 million of the cost would come from $7 million in parking bonds the city is issuing. The rest would be paid in $100,000 annual installments out of parking revenues.